Ascend
by Dark Ice Dragon
Summary: It was supposed to be a stealth mission. It was anything but.
1. Chapter 1

**Summary** : It was supposed to be a stealth mission. It was anything but.

Contains blood.

Set waaaay in the future. Near the end of Noblesse, basically.

* * *

 **Ascend  
**

By Dark Ice Dragon

* * *

M-21 gulped in deep breaths, trying to fill his burning lungs. His legs shook, a second from giving up on him and it was only sheer willpower that kept him upright. Everything throbbed, from getting thrown into pillars and at one point, M-21 was _sure_ if he hadn't dodged in time, he would have lost an arm, rather than cuts from shoulder to hip.

The mission had not gone to plan and that was a fucking _understatement_. M-21 swiped at his forehead, and his hand came away covered in both sweat and blood. He was supposed to just sneak into the werewolf stronghold, grab what information he could and then get out. Being the only person in the house who could pass as a werewolf, he'd had to go in alone to not draw attention.

That hadn't happened.

In front of him, Maduke dropped to the ground, blood escaping through the slashes across his throat in thick spurts. Maduke's eyes were glassy but M-21 maintained his transformation, watching him. M-21 knew exactly how good a werewolf's healing ability was: it was the only reason he was alive right now.

M-21's ears rang, from all the explosions as their attacks took down walls, from the blood roaring through him.

Maduke didn't move again, his eyes staying open and his mouth slack as the blood flow slowed to a trickle.

M-21 finally allowed himself to release his transformation and slump, not dropping just yet. If he hit the ground, he wouldn't get up again for a while and he _needed_ to get moving before-

He whirled around at a soft sound and his eyes widened as he backed up a step. Not that that would have made a difference.

Shit.

The entranceway to the audience room was packed with werewolves.

When had they arrived? How much had they seen? That didn't matter. He'd been caught with the dead body of their Lord.

He might have killed Maduke, but only just barely. Fighting the rest of the werewolves in the stronghold all at once, by himself? He was _fucked_.

The werewolves hadn't sprung to avenge their Lord yet, and if they gave him enough time, he might be able to muster enough energy to run. He wouldn't be able to outrun them for long, not in his current state, but if he could reach the forest, found a body of water to get rid of his scent and Maduke's... He might make it.

And he'd distracted himself.

The werewolves had filtered into the audience room while he'd been thinking. He hadn't noticed them move, or heard them. Dammit. If he kept this up, he wasn't going to escape.

"Are you the one that killed him?" one of the werewolves closest to him said. She had long brown hair tied into braids.

M-21 pursed his lips. The werewolves had formed a loose semi-circle around him and they didn't seem inclined to close the gap. He might still make it. Open air was at his back.

He exhaled, flexing his hands and rolling to the balls of his feet, ready to flee at the first chance.

"Yeah, I did," he said with a lift of his chin, curling his lip as he smirked. There was no point in lying, not when he was covered in Maduke's blood. That should rile them up enough to stop them from thinking properly.

The werewolf who had asked him dipped her head. M-21 tensed, readying for the attacks and to dodge.

She dropped to the floor.

No. She was _kneeling_ , her head bowed, an arm bent over her knee. M-21 jerked his head to see what the others were doing.

They were doing the same. _All_ of them.

M-21 swallowed, his heart hammering again and his stomach churned. They weren't attacking. What-

"My Lord," the first werewolf murmured, and the title rippled out from the rest of the werewolves in a wave.

"What?" M-21 croaked.

The first werewolf raised her head, and she was looking at _him_ , not Maduke. "My Lord?"

Oh... Shit. This was _not_ how his stealth mission was supposed to go...

* * *

I'm assuming the endgame will be Muzaka fights Maduke and takes back his title. But then I had another idea, and here we are. :3

Bare bones of what happens next, thanks to Myriade:  
'Uhm... Frankenstein...we have... a thing.. So. The good news: I got the information you wanted.'  
'And the bad news?'  
'I got the information because I became the new werewolf Lord 8l;;;;;;;'  
'...Good! :D'

'That means you've developed so much since we first met.'  
'Y-yeah, but...'  
'I'm very proud of you."  
'! ! Q/ /Q'


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary** : It was supposed to be a stealth mission. It was anything but.

I don't really have a long term plan for this, so this'll probably be mostly snippets.

* * *

 **Ascend  
**

By Dark Ice Dragon

* * *

M-21 held it together as he was lead to the Lord's quarters. _His_ quarters. What the fuck...

"Do you need anything, Lord M-21?" the female werewolf said, and he gritted his teeth at the title. He wasn't-

"No," he said, everything about him coiled tight, wrapped up in ice. "This is all I need for now." Retreating to 'his' quarters wouldn't seem weird, not after fighting with the previous Lord. They couldn't expect him to start leading them straight away, right? Not that he fucking knew anything about werewolf culture.

She dipped her head as he opened the door. As soon as he closed it, leaving her outside, he sagged against the door, fisting his shaking hands in an attempt to still them. What the _fuck_ was going on? His worst case scenario was getting caught and being used as experimental material again, followed by being killed, but _this_? Becoming the fucking _werewolf Lord_? Was he hallucinating?

Everything felt too real though, the wood at his back, the stone at his feet... M-21 wrinkled his nose. Maduke's scent permeating the room.

Breathing through his mouth, M-21 headed for the window. It gave a good view of the forest surrounding the stronghold. The window was also large enough to climb through without any problems.

M-21 poked his head out, checking the distance to the ground. He could make that easily.

He closed his eyes and leaned back in. He would have been able to do that a few minutes ago (had been planning to do just that) but now...

He _hoped_ this wasn't something his heart was telling him was an obligation to carry out.

M-21 climbed onto the sill, leaning against the side of the window as he placed a foot in front of him. Apart from hanging out the window, it would be the best place to get a signal.

He pulled out the earpiece from his pocket, glad it was still there. Tao had made him transform enough times with it in his hand to make sure his aura wouldn't destroy it, but there was still the chance one wrong slash through his trousers could make him lose it.

Glancing at the door, M-21 put the earpiece in, pressing it twice to call Tao.

Tao picked up on the first ring. "Yo, how'd it go?"

"It...went," M-21 said, not hearing anyone in the corridor, though it shouldn't matter if anyone heard him calling someone.

"Uh-huuuh," Tao drew out. "It's fine if you didn't-"

"That's not what happened," M-21 said, shaking his head. "It's the opposite." Not that he'd checked yet, but he _should_. Anything Maduke had access to, he did now.

"Opp-? M, if you grabbed the _entire_ system, I'm declaring my love to you right now."

M-21 couldn't stop the smirk curling his lips. "I didn't do that, but I _do_ have access to everything here."

Tao didn't say anything for a second. "Okay, how'd you manage that? Kill Maduke and take over as werewolf Lord?"

"Yes." For once Tao's off the wall guesses was right on the nose.

" _Really?_ " Tao squeaked.

M-21 sighed and leaned his forehead in his palm. "Maduke caught me while I was sneaking around: he recognised me from when I was dragged in here." Not that he'd known the ex-Lord had seen him before.

"Is this one of those scenarios where a slab of the ceiling dropped down and killed him and you're taking the credit -or else they'll kill you- or did you do the killing blow?"

He snorted. "I think I'd still be the Lord even if he _had_ been killed by the ceiling." It wouldn't have fallen through if the fight hadn't happened in the first place.

"You would be," Raizel-nim said, his voice less clear than Tao's.

M-21 paused. "Uh. Who else is there?"

"Everyone...? We were worried about ya, of course."

Of course. He sighed, lifting his head again. "So..." he said, pursing his lips, "I'm not sure when I can come back." He'd be able to send the information Tao wanted, but actually leaving?

"Muzaka roamed wherever he wanted when he was Lord," Raizel-nim said, and M-21 blinked.

"He did?" And if Muzaka could do that, then what did he have to do as Lord?

"Yes."

"So M can leave!" Tao said, and M-21 heard a clap. "But if you _want_ , we can come over to help you sort out, well, everything that needs to be done."

M-21 closed his eyes, letting out a breath and relaxing. "That'd be good." He paused. "But come in two days — it'll give me time to sleep and warn them you're coming." He had _no_ idea when the hell he was going to wake up after all this.

"Will do!" M-21 could just picture Tao giving him a thumbs up.

Smiling, M-21 ended the call, wavered over to the bed and collapsed on top of it. He was asleep instantly. 

* * *

I'm not certain what's happened with Lunark, Kentas and Garda at the moment so…I'll…just not include them at the moment, hah.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary** : Tao hears about how to unruffle fur, the werewolf way.

* * *

 **Ascend  
**

By Dark Ice Dragon

* * *

"You're getting help from _humans_?" one werewolf demanded, their lips twisted in a snarl, jerking their head at Takeo and Tao.

"I think everyone's noticed _I'm_ human," M-21 said with a roll of his eyes, watching the werewolf splutter. "I already told you they were coming — it's my decision as Lord, so shut up."

The werewolf did, clenching their jaw.

But that wasn't going to be the end of it, and M-21 knew it. 

xOx

"Really?" Tao said, swinging back on the chair in M-21's room, tipping it onto two legs. "We need to prove ourselves in a fight?" That seemed...doable. He would have preferred to talk it out, but he couldn't get what he wanted _all_ the time.

Lunark nodded. "That should be the fastest way for the werewolves to accept you."

"Huh, okay." Tao hummed, then set all the legs of the chair on the ground. "Does anyone count or do I have to fight someone specific?" If there was a way to cut down the fighting faster...

"Well..." Lunark frowned. "I can think of a few stronger warriors you could fight. If you won or drew against them, the others would have a measure of your strength and respect that."

Tao snuck a glance at M-21, who was sitting on his bed, listening but not joining in. Takeo was also quiet, and hmmm... "I'm surprised neither of you haven't tried to veto this yet." They would have commented by now at least.

M-21 snorted, crossing his arms. "I'm only the werewolf Lord here, nothing else — when I try to stop you doing something, you do it anyway."

"That's-!" Tao paused, thinking of all the plans he'd had since joining the household. "Okay, that's _mostly_ true," he admitted, grinning sheepishly and M-21 smirked. "But they were _great_ ideas."

"In your opinion," Takeo said, shaking his head, smiling.

"And if it helps stop werewolves growling at you wherever you go," M-21 said before Tao could protest, "then I'm not going to stop you."

"Cool!" Tao turned back to Lunark. "Is there a specific way to challenge werewolves or can I just go, 'You. Me. Outside'?" Simple meant less chance of misinterpretation.

She huffed, her lips curling up. "That would do it."

"Great!" Tao grinned, leaning back on the chair again as he thought over what he'd do. "I've had a _bunch_ of toys I wanted to test out but haven't had the chance to yet — this'll be perfect!"

And once they were done, he'd get to find out a _lot_ of stuff about werewolves! He couldn't wait. 

* * *

T2 have perfected using Dark Spear by this point, so M-21's not worried about them.


End file.
